SANFORD — York County Community College (YCCC) will offer a new associate degree program next fall in Precision Machining Technology and has chosen a site in Sanford for the program.

YCCC announced Monday that it has signed a lease agreement with Goodall Hospital for a 6,050-square-foot space at 1 Eagle Drive in South Sanford.

YCCC will accept 12 students the first year of the program and another 12 students the following year.

During the next several months, YCCC will do site renovations and install the high tech machining equipment needed for the program.

The community college is in the process of hiring a full-time instructor for the program, said Interim YCCC President Scott Knapp.

Graduates of the two-year associate degree program will enter the job market with an in-depth multidisciplinary education in mathematics, physics, engineering technology, manufacturing processes and methods, as well as a broad education in computer studies, business and liberal arts.

“It’s a very lucrative field,” Knapp said, adding that starting salaries in the field are $40,000 and up. “With two years of college, it’s an incredible return on [a student’s] investment.”

There are a number of manufacturing companies in York County that employ highly skilled machinists, including Pratt & Whitney in North Berwick and General Dynamics in Saco, the two largest in the state.

YCCC’s precision machining technology program was developed in partnership with Pratt & Whitney, which donated $190,000 to fund a portion of the equipment costs. General Dynamics and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard are also involved in the program.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for the people and manufacturing businesses in York County,” said Steven Howe, the manager of human resources at Pratt & Whitney and a Maine Community College System trustee. “The pool of trained machinists in Maine gets shallower and shallower each year as we see our work force retire. YCCC has responded to this trend, and the graduates of this program will have the skills they need to get hired.”

The Maine legislature — led by former Rep. Devin Beliveau, of Kittery, Rep. Kathy Chase, of Wells, and former Sen. Jon Courtney, of Sanford — has agreed to provide an annual appropriation of $257,000 to fund the program’s operating costs.

The Sanford site where the program will be located is about 20 minutes from YCCC’s main campus in Wells. The facility was formerly the home of U.S. Optical Disc, Inc. and was purchased by Goodall Hospital in 2005.

YCCC was established in 1994 and is one of seven community colleges in the Maine Community College System.